Arts and Humanities Commons^™

A New Normal: An Autoethnographic Analysis Of Gender Complexities In Los Angeles Social Justice Theatre Storytelling, Sue Hamilton

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

This study uses autoethnography to examine the role gender plays in Los Angeles social justice theatre storytelling. Chronicling my autoethnography as a queer, nonbinary artist and social justice theatre practitioner, I will examine gender through the context of my social justice theatre company, Artists Rise Up Los Angeles (ARULA), by analyzing selections of its original, politically focused, professional stage plays performed from 2017 to 2019, utilizing ARULA’s emerging themes of gender expression and inclusion. ARULA was born out of a determination to create original social justice theatre storytelling to understand and transform reality by bringing theatrical expression to the environment …

Designing Into The Woods: An In-Depth Analysis, Jackson Berhow

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

This thesis is intended to provide insight into the costume design process for West Virginia University’s production of Into the Woods. This thesis will document the entire process, starting with a close reading of the musical exploring its symbols, themes, and characters with some theory crafting thrown in for good measure. This will be followed by the early stages of the show’s production, as well as a full explanation of the development of each character’s design throughout the show’s conceptual evolution. The show’s production process will also be explored, highlighting notable instances and how this impacted the costume design.

A Post Apocalyptic Romp: Designing Costumes For Phoebe In Winter, Emmalee Berger

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

This thesis will document the process of costume designing for Phoebe in Winter by Jen Silverman. It will examine the process from first read of the script through initial and final design meetings and to execution and production of the design. This will report on challenges specific to this production, such as nudity and violence on an academic stage, and the subsequent solutions. Phoebe in Winter was produced by West Virginia University School of Theatre and Dance in October of 2024. The design process began in February of the same year.

Theatre Education At The University Of Montana: Providing Innovative Solutions To A Complex Problem, Natalie Renk

Undergraduate Theses, Professional Papers, and Capstone Artifacts

This paper is part of a larger project that aims to provide solutions to assimilate the University of Montana’s theatre education program with those across the United States by providing budget conscious innovations. The focus of this paper will be the creation of two methods courses: THTR 438: Content for Secondary Theatre Education and THTR 439: Skills for Theatre Education, this paper discussing the former. The latter was designed by my research partner, Ren Shepherd. This course would offer comprehensive coverage of theatre practitioners, both historical and modern theatrical texts, hands on design and budgeting experience, as well as teaching …

“Windows For Witness: Dan Fishback’S Radical Access”, Alexandra Juhasz

Publications and Research

Dan Fishback’s Jewish crip aesthetic – art made within a framework of integrated access – is rooted in the human (or Jewish!) capacity to be generous and so much more. He expands our understandings of who is in the room, who is in the world, who is in our community, who lives at the same time as us but in a different way. This connection in his show between chronic illness and Palestine is not only about alienation it is about identification and solidarity.

Public Projection | What Is Public?, Kameron Neal, Movement Lab

Course Materials

No abstract provided.

Public Projection | Intervention, Kameron Neal, Movement Lab

Course Materials

No abstract provided.

Performance Assemblages | Wintersession 2025 Syllabus, La Samuelson, Movement Lab

Course Materials & Research

In this course, we will make solo and collaborative performance works. We will approach performance as the project of creating new contexts for interrelation–between beings, material, matter, the known, and the unknown–that allow both the performer and the viewer to learn and/or experience something we otherwise would not have access to. In other words, the work of this class is the work of listening in the direction of something you can’t quite yet hear, and taking the time to figure out: where you might stand, what device you might invent, what you might wear, and how you might work with …

Performance Assemblages | Research, La Samuelson, Movement Lab

Course Materials & Research

No abstract provided.

Directing The Temperamentals: Exploring Identity, Activism, And Historical Resonance In Lgbtq+ Theater, Eric E. Parrish

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

This thesis presents an in-depth analysis and directorial approach to Jon Marans' play, The Temperamentals, which dramatizes the early struggles of the LGBTQ+ rights movement in 1950s America. The production focuses on the personal and political dynamics surrounding the formation of the Mattachine Society, one of the first sustained gay rights organizations in the United States, through the lives of its co-founders, Harry Hay and Rudi Gernreich. This analysis explores the relevance of the plays' themes in the contemporary socio-political landscape by exploring the interaction of personal identity, societal repression, and collective activism depicted in the play. These chapters detail …

Are You Smarter Than A Dancer?: An Investigation Of Physical Agility And Cognitive Ability Between Dancers And Non-Dancers., Renee Clippinger, Philip Allen Phd

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

The purpose of this study is to develop a better understanding of learning and memory in dancers in comparison to non-dancers. I plan to search further into the way formally trained dancers perform on certain tests in comparison to people with no dance training. This will be measured through a series of five tests completed in the following order: the sit to stand test, hop and stop test, the single leg stance test, the digit symbol substitution test, and a tower of Hanoi task. These tests will be conducted on 20 dance majors, and 20 non-dance students. This data will …

Public Projection | What Is Projection?, Kameron Neal, Movement Lab

Course Materials

No abstract provided.

Public Projection | Wintersession 2025 Syllabus, Kameron Neal, Movement Lab

Course Materials

In this course, we will create site-specific projections that breathe new life onto the built environment. Working in the lineage of street art and guerrilla performance, we will explore the relationship between art, public space and the communities we inhabit. How is projection a tool of public communication? How can light and movement reshape architecture and human behavior? We will research sites, understand their stories, develop creative interventions, build prototypes and work collaboratively to design ephemeral public installations.

Telegraph Valley Performance, Installation, And Animation, La Samuelson, Movement Lab

Personal Work

"My fellowship project culminated in a 10 month exhibition and a series of 5 performances in Miami, presented by Diaspora Vibe Cultural Arts Incubator, the National Performance Network, with support from the RISD Movement Lab and Foundation for Contemporary Arts. The work was also included in Miami Art Week - 2025." – LA Samuelson

What Year Is It?, Kameron Neal, Movement Lab

Personal Work

No abstract provided.

Surveillance Studies, Kameron Neal, Movement Lab

Personal Work

No abstract provided.

Stereoscope Studies, Kameron Neal, Movement Lab

Personal Work

No abstract provided.

Public Projection | Found Footage, Kameron Neal, Movement Lab

Course Materials

No abstract provided.

Public Projection | Typography, Kameron Neal, Movement Lab

Course Materials

No abstract provided.

Rheology, Kameron Neal, Movement Lab

Personal Work

No abstract provided.

Theatre For The People: Exploring The Need For A New National Theatre, Kai Yamanishi

Theatre and Dance Honors Projects

The Covid-19 pandemic sent shockwaves through the theater industry that have seen dozens of venues across the country laying off workers, shortening seasons, and even closing altogether. Costs have risen, audiences have been slow to return, and traditional sources of funding have dried up. What then, are theaters to do? By conducting an economic analysis and examining published and original interviews with theater practitioners, this essay explores this crisis as it has affected the regional nonprofit theater sector, specifically the members of the League of Resident Theaters (LORT). It concludes that LORT’s model is no longer sustainable because of its …

Essence Of Esther: Finding And Understanding Power Of Voice Through Exploration Of The Archive, Ashley C T Cesiro

Dance (MFA) Theses

Language is how we communicate, but language does not always show up in the literal sense of spoken words. This thesis examines how the human body archives experiences to fuel the voice, enabling it to show up and fulfill a purpose and passion that life has led to. In this thesis, the book of Esther is used as an example of how one can draw on the roots of their past and the challenges of life to discover and understand the source of their inner voice and how to utilize it effectively. This research highlights many artists who lean into …

One Man Show/ Who Am I, Devin Baker

Dance (MFA) Theses

Historically, stereotypes of ideal masculine physiques and attributed qualities have led to discriminatory and exclusionary practices that adversely affect black queer men and how they show up in various performance and social spaces. As a result, black male bodies in these spaces have employed the alter ego as a tool to imagine themselves inside/outside these constructed masculinities. How can the alter ego aid in transcending dated notions of race and gender, beholden to black male bodies within concert dance? Through the intertwining of personal narrative and research rooted in psychology and gender studies, this work examines the alter ego as …

Stop Suffering For Your Art, Amanda Bryers

Theses and Dissertations

What does the process look like for an actor to disconnect from a circumstance that they take on during the course of a rehearsal or performance? And how does this disconnection process affect the actor’s mental, physical, and emotional health? This project consists of interviews of CSU student actors about their personal experiences in letting go of imaginary circumstances immediately following a performance, rehearsal, or actor’s exercise. The purpose of this project is to determine whether or not actor’s training provides sufficient tools for an actor to disconnect. Interviewees detailed their own personal methods, as well as whether or not …

The Right Way To Go Wrong: A Reflection, Peter A. Graham

CMC Senior Theses

This thesis documents my personal experience acting in Pomona College’s Fall 2024 production of The Play That Goes Wrong. I begin with an artist statement – a poem explaining the reasons why I act. The paper then moves into a general overview of the project, including my past training and future goals. The next section, which is the bulk of the material, contains chronological evidence of the production from start to finish and focuses on my attempt to find precise physicality. I finish with thoughts about the result as well as general reflections on how the process has shaped …

The Force Without Faces: Asian Culture And Its Invisible Role In Star Wars, Charlie Posrivisuthikool

Selected Full-Text Master Theses 2021-

M.A. ITP Thesis Paper Abstract:

This thesis paper – The Force without Faces - Asians Culture and Its Invisible Role in Star Wars – analyzes the relationship between George Lucas' Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope (1977) and the works of Japanese director Akira Kurosawa's Seven Samurai (1954) and The Hidden Fortress (1958), along with Flash Gordon (1936). The Western idea of a borrowed culture plays a significant role in crafting one of the most successful franchises in Hollywood history. Following Joseph Campbell's The Hero with a Thousand Faces and other theorists, George Lucas takes the audience on …

Scenic Design For Jen Silverman’S Phoebe In Winter, Jess A. Ford

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

This document is a narrative of the Scenic Design process for Jen Silverman’s Phoebe in Winter, designed by Jess Ford. The process includes a detailed summary and analysis of the script, the stages in the creation of the design, the final design, build, technical rehearsals, and the final product. This production was produced by West Virginia University’s School of Theatre & Dance during the Fall 2024 semester, presented in the Gladys G. Davis Theater at the Canady Creative Arts Center in Morgantown, WV.

Voices Of Identity: Exploring Devised Theatre As Social Resistance And Catalyst For Change, Elizabeth Danielle Belvin

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

Devised theatre offers a unique artistic and pedagogical approach that challenges conventional hierarchies of storytelling by centering collaboration, personal narratives, and collective authorship. This dissertation explores the role of devised theatre in identity formation and social resistance, particularly for students from historically and currently marginalized backgrounds. Through a qualitative inquiry rooted in interviews and a podcast-based research methodology, this study investigates how devised theatre creates spaces for self-exploration, fosters community-building, and serves as a means of resisting dominant cultural narratives. This study finds that devised theatre functions as both an artistic and political practice, allowing participants to reclaim agency over …

40 Years Passing By In (A) “Heartbeat”, Christopher Janney

Monsoon: South Asian Studies Association Journal

This article outlines the forty-year history go Christopher Janney’s iconic performance work “HeartBeat.” Trained as an architect and jazz musician, Janney combines these two disciplines to create large interactive light/sound installations and performances. On the one hand, he attempts to make architecture more like music, more “alive” using real-time sensing devices as on his “Harmonic Convergence” installation on the Miami International Airport. On the other hand, he attempts to make music more like architecture, more physical more visual. In his “HeartBeat” performance, a dancer wears a heartbeat device that amplifies his/her heartbeat in “real time.” Over this pulse, live musicians …

Yoga Sūtra Book Four And The Yogabindu, Christopher Key Chapple

Monsoon: South Asian Studies Association Journal

Four themes from the fourth pāda of Patañjali’s Yoga Sūtra are examined here: karma (IV:2-13), individuality (IV:16), humility (IV:20-22), and freedom (IV:29-34). Affirmations and variant interpretations of these four are provided from Haribhadra Virahāṅka’s Yogabindu, most likely composed a century or two later.